T. rex Has the Monopoly on Dinosaur Public Relations

T. rex Game Piece Destined for Monopoly

The makers of the family favourite board game “Monopoly” have announced that a Tyrannosaurus rex playing piece will be added to the game later this year. The game “Monopoly” first went on sale in 1935, by the mid 1930’s, T. rex was already established as a “super star” amongst the Dinosauria. This iconic dinosaur, famous for its tiny arms and huge jaws was one of the figures selected for new versions of the game, following a public vote.

The New T. rex Monopoly Game Piece

T. rex game piece being added to Monopoly board game.

Picture Credit: BBC News

Palaeontologists, now know that Tyrannosaurus rex was not the largest carnivorous dinosaur. However, it was one of the very last of huge Theropod dinosaurs to evolve and the Tyrannosaurs seem to have been a very long lived group of meat-eating dinosaurs. The first Tyrannosaurs evolved during the Jurassic and one of the earliest was the tyrannosauroid Guanlong (G. wucaii), known from the Shishugou Formation of China. Guanlong was formally described in 2006 and it is believed to have lived some 160 million years ago (Oxfordian faunal stage of the Late Jurassic).

Despite the huge increase in different types of dinosaur, T. rex seems to dominate still. This Late Cretaceous meat-eater has a special place in the public’s affection. No dinosaur movie seems complete without an appearance of Tyrannosaurus rex, here at Everything Dinosaur, T. rex models out sell all the other dinosaur models by a ratio of 4 :1. Tyrannosaurus rex certainly seems to have cornered the market when it comes to dinosaur public relations.

Tyrannosaurus rex is as popular as ever, now Monopoly fans can play with a T. rex game piece. We are not sure how a fully-grown Tyrannosaurus rex would have coped with Bond Street, the Waterworks or even the Old Kent Road, but we are sure this new addition to the family board game will be most welcome.